I’ve discovered it’s possible to get paid to take surveys and to make a good, consistent income from it. How you ask? Let me share my story. I live in London, which is an expensive city and got into lots of debt by simply living a bit beyond what I was earning, and I needed to find a way of earning extra income quickly.

I urgently needed a way of earning extra cash, without working longer hours. I was already working too much! I first heard about how to get paid to do surveys free, and thought “yeah right…no ways that’s genuine!”. But I started doing online surveys for money in my spare time and really enjoyed it, and it was worth it! (more…)

Why would content matter when you are running an e-commerce site? After all, you provide a product or service that people want to buy, so setting up your site to easily purchase should be your primary goal, right?

Not necessarily.

Let’s look at some of the more successful e-commerce sites on the Web and see how they balance content with marketing and sales techniques to get people to not only return to the site, but buy. (more…)

New customers are out there, but they might not be on eBay–yet. Use a website to show them the way to your business.

To get the most from your eBay business, make sure you’re using the “triangle of success”: eBay auctions, an eBay Store (read my previous column on eBay Stores) and a website. eBay Power-Seller and 47-year-old website owner Yaron Hankin (www.anytimesale.com) says, “People look at someone who not only sells on eBay, but also has his or her own website, as a more established seller.” (more…)

Many of us have aspirations to own our own business – to be our own boss. Every year hundreds of thousands of small businesses get started by people just like you and me; people who have an idea for a product or service and follow through on it.

You may have an idea for a business but think because you don’t have the money that your dream of starting your own business will never be a reality.

However, there are a number of things you can do right now to help you get started on the path toward building your dream business. There are many steps you can take to develop startup ideas and flesh them out. And those initial steps do not take any money at all — just time and effort on your part. (more…)

Take one college-bound student with an overdrawn bank account and one 20-minute brainstorming session on how to raise money to pay for school, and what do you get? A million-dollar idea that’s had people around the world slapping their foreheads and muttering “Why didn’t I think of that?” ever since.

With only one month to go before he was to begin classes at a three-year university–and no money in his bank account–Alex Tew was determined to find a way to avoid student debt. Armed with a notebook and pen, Tew stayed up late one night brainstorming ways to make some quick cash. (more…)